A prior art device of this kind comprises a number of fibers which are fixedly supported at one end and extend towards and engage by means of contact surfaces the surface from which the dirt and contaminants shall be removed, the fibers being adapted to remove the dirt and contaminants while being translationally moved in relation to said surface. A device of this kind can be utilized as a so called brush seal, the device being thereby positioned in a space between two surfaces being moved in relation to each other for preventing dirt and contaminants to enter the space and removing dirt having already entered this space. A brush seal of this kind is used for example, as an integrated additional seal in a shaft seal device, the primary seal being constituted by a radial or axial sealing ring of elastomeric material, for example rubber, having a sealing lip sliding along a counter surface and sealing against for example oil or grease. By preventing dirt and contaminants from reaching the sealing lip the additional seal provides for an improved total sealing effect of the sealing device as well as an extended life of the primary seal.
In a sealing device of the brush seal type it is usually desirable that the device displaces the dirt and contaminants in a direction transversely of the direction of the relative movement between the fibers and the surface from which the dirt and contaminants are to be be removed. In sealing devices of the kind described, wherein the brush seal constitutes an additional seal it is of course desirable to displace the dirt and the contaminants laterally away from the primary seal. However, such controlled displacement of the dirt and contaminants is not possible in prior art sealing devices of the kind comprising fibers engaging and being moved in relation to the surface from which the dirt is to be removed.